Lakers: LeBron James is the Highest Paid Athlete in the World Per Recent Report
First and foremost, professional sports are a business. LeBron James' Lakers might have been a disaster this year, but James' bottom line was still at a championship level.
According to a recent report from Sportico's Kurt Badenhausen, LeBron earned the most of any athlete in the world over the last 12 months. Sportico estimates that James pulled down a cool $126.9M between his $36.9M salary and over $90M in endorsements. Soccer player, excuse this "Yank", footballer Lionel Messi was the runner-up with estimated earnings right around $122M.
In addition to LeBron's other lucrative endorsements (Walmart, GMC, AT&T, PepsiCo, etc.) and business ventures, the 18-time All-Star signed a lifetime deal with Nike in 2015 that experts believe will pay him upwards of $500M throughout his life.
In the article, Badenhausen includes a quote from LeBron from 2017, where James explained his "light bulb" moment when it came to leveraging his brand.
"I started thinking, if [then-Reebok CEO Paul Fireman] is willing to give me a $10 million dollar check right now, what is to say that Nike or Adidas is not willing to give me 20 or 30 upfront. Maybe the upfront money is not even the biggest thing. Maybe, let's start thinking about the back end."”
Per Badenhausen, the most valuable part of LeBron's burgeoning business empire is he and business partner Mavericks Carter's The SpringHill Company. The company is valued at approximately $725M.
Badenhausen noted that James also has a some level of ownership in the Fenway Sports Group which owns Liverpool, an English Premier League club, the Boston Red Sox, and the New England Sports Network.
Safe to say, LeBron has built a well-diversified portfolio that has set he and his family up for decades of significant income and equity.
Even after a year where his team missed the playoffs, LeBron is still The King.
